There may come a time when Abdul-Kerim Edilov can fight in the UFC and we won’t need to discuss where he comes from or what he does there. His UFC debut is not that time.

That much was evident even on the UFC Fight Pass event stream, in which commentators John Gooden and Dan Hardy felt obliged to at least mention Edilov’s connection to Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov, who, they noted, ensures that Edilov “gets everything he needs.”

That’s a bit of understatement, as this story by BloodyElbow.com’s Karim Zidan illustrates. Edilov isn’t just an acquaintance of the Chechen strongman; he’s the coach and bodyguard to his young sons. He’s also something of a walking propaganda tool for the brutal Chechen regime, which makes him a problematic pickup for the UFC.

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Edilov first signed with the UFC in late 2015, only to be sidelined almost immediately due to a violation of the UFC’s anti-doping program. But in the time between when he officially joined the UFC and when he finally made his debut this past Saturday, awareness of Kadyrov’s MMA program has grown significantly.

At least some of that is due to a recent segment on HBO’s “Real Sports,” which documented how the Chechen leader uses MMA to strengthen his grip on power and to feed his armed forces. That might be slightly less troubling if Kadyrov’s regime didn’t stand accused of torturing and killing gays as part of an ongoing purge in the tiny Russian republic. Kadyrov himself openly encouraged violence against Chechen gays, and his “Real Sports” interview ended with an ominous threat of nuclear armageddon.

You wouldn’t think that this is the kind of person the UFC would want to be in business with. But by hiring a fighter from Kadyrov’s trusted inner circle, that’s exactly what it’s done.

Edilov is different from other Chechen UFC fighters. He’s not just an athlete who happens to be from a region where you have to play nice with the local dictator in order to get along. Edilov is a very active participant in this violent regime. He was even reported to have personally threatened HBO’s David Scott when he saw him recording video of Kadyrov’s sons while in Chechnya for the “Real Sports” story.

Keeping him in the UFC is, while not necessarily an endorsement of the Chechen regime, still very far from a condemnation of it.

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From a public-relations standpoint, it’s also a big risk for a small gain. Is Edilov going to turn out to be the Chechen Conor McGregor? Is he going to become so vital a piece of the UFC’s light heavyweight division that it’s worth getting into bed with a violent anti-gay dictator in order to keep him around? Probably not.

The best argument you can make in favor of keeping Edilov on the roster is that fighters shouldn’t be blackballed from the sport’s most prominent organization just because of their national origin. That’s certainly a good enough reason to give most other Chechen fighters a pass. Then again, that argument gets tougher to make when you’re on the dictator’s payroll, serving as surrogate big brother to his children.

Like it or not, the company Edilov chooses to keep says something about him. The same is true for the UFC.